Our View: South Coast Rail gets a big boost

THUMBS UP to the SouthCoast legislative delegation who worked together and showed a united front in brokering the House's unanimous, 151-0 approval Wednesday of $2.2 billion in bonding for the South Coast Rail project as part of a larger $12 billion transportation bonding package.

THUMBS UP to the SouthCoast legislative delegation who worked together and showed a united front in brokering the House's unanimous, 151-0 approval Wednesday of $2.2 billion in bonding for the South Coast Rail project as part of a larger $12 billion transportation bonding package. The largest issue between making South Coast Rail a reality has been funding and this measure would give the commuter rail project a big push.

The measure now goes to the Senate, but it is still not guaranteed to be funded at the full project level. If all goes according to plan, though, it is envisioned as an eight-year project going forward. Let's hope the remaining pieces fall into place to make this project move from concept to reality.

THUMBS UP to the Fall River Fire Department and the environmental cleanup crew that responded to a dramatic explosion when a tractor-trailer carrying 11,000 gallons of gasoline rolled over on the President Avenue Route 24 ramp in Fall River on Monday. Fortunately, there was little environmental impact from the incident, in which most of the oil was burned in the crash and a cleanup crew worked to remove contaminated soil and burned trees.

There were low levels of gasoline in Terry Brook that fortunately does not spill into nearby North Watuppa Pond, which supplies drinking water. The city's water drainage system is also credited with minimizing environmental impacts. All in all, this accident had the potential to become a major disaster, which was fortunately averted. The smart decisions by first responders to let the gasoline burn out made a big difference in the outcome.

THUMBS UP to Robert Viveiros, who was sworn in as Fall River's new fire chief on Tuesday. A member of the department since 1983 who has served as a deputy fire chief and the city's fire marshal since 2012, Viveiros was chosen by Flanagan last month to lead the department. With a "tough but fair" management style, he's the right man for the job and should be a good leader for the fire department.

THUMBS UP to the late Pete Seeger, the folk musician and activist who died last week at age 94. Seeger, a Beacon, N.Y., resident, had strong ties to Tiverton, where his daughter Mika Seeger and her husband live. Seeger's legacy lives on Tiverton, where he performed in a benefit concert in July 1997 to buy what is now the Pardon Gray Preserve. A Pete Seeger Memorial Concert will be held on Valentine's Day, Friday, Feb. 14, at the Sandywoods Center for the Arts, which Seeger's daughter and son-in-law helped create. There should be a lot of love shown and reminiscing on Pete Seeger and his music in Tiverton on Valentine's Day.